Bangladesh National Cricket Team captain Left-Handed batter Najmul Hossain Shanto have a dream to win a trophy in the 50 over ODI tournament, as he explained his expectations at the press conference on Sunday ahead of the T-20 three- match series against Sri Lanka at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
He said, “We are doing well in the ODI. But till now, we couldn’t win any major trophy, as a team that is a great failure for us. We played One Day International matches since 1986. Almost 38 years passed but Tigers could not win a major trophy in ODI.”
“I have sketched a plan how to win a trophy in the limited over match, I have a plan in my mind. I want to share the plan with the authority to accomplish my dream,” Shanto expressed his optimistic.
The new captain for all three formats, hopes his first assignment as a full-time captain against the Islanders to be a competitive one.
Shanto did not do well in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), his form was not up to the mark in the tournament with Sylhet Strikers, he scored only 175 runs in 12 innings. However, he doesn't feel captaincy is as a burden.
"It's not that I will need to do something special when I'm the captain. I'll have to score anyways as a batter. First of all, I am a batter and my job is to score runs for the team," said Shanto, replaces Shakib Al Hasan as the captain of the national team.
Shanto also spoke about the rivalry between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, on and off the field. "I'm not thinking about things outside the field. What happened in the past is in the past. I feel it will be a good series. Both teams will try to win. We are doing and will do everything for victory.
"We are not feeling any pressure. We are focused on our game. We are only thinking about what we can control. Every international series has pressure. That is true for us as well as the opposition team, but we are matured enough to handle that," said the new captain.